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[1]
Date: Sat 14 Nov 2009
Source: The New York Times [edited]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/world/europe/14flu.html?_r=1&percent2362;=&hpw=&percent2360;br=&pagewanted=print

When patients began arriving in Vyacheslav Bonder's intensive care unit 2 weeks ago, their lungs so saturated with blood that they could barely gasp, the only thing he could compare it to was a field hospital in wartime. As soon as he hooked one patient up to a ventilator, a 2nd and 3rd would appear in the doorway. By that time, hospitals were clearing wards to make room for a wave of pneumonia cases, and people were crowding into drugstores to buy whatever they could get their hands on. Rumors were circulating that the government had ordered the city aerially sprayed with chemicals, to cure Lviv of
disease or, in a grimmer version, to exterminate its carriers.

The panic lifted almost as quickly as it had arrived, and the World Health Organization announced Friday [13 Nov 2009] that the swine flu [pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection] illnesses and deaths so far in Ukraine -- 265 fatalities nationwide, with 87 in the Lviv region --  were statistically no worse than those in other countries. But what happened here has drawn rapt attention from experts bracing for the epidemic to hit Europe, and especially the fragile health care
systems of countries of the former Soviet Union. Early findings are that serious cases mounted because the sick avoided hospitalization until their illness was dangerously advanced, stockpiles of Tamiflu were locked in centralized locations and the supply of ventilators fell short, said David Mercer, of the World Health Organization's European regional office. "It's not like this caught us by surprise; we've known for months that this was coming," said Dr. Mercer, who
heads the office's communicable disease unit. "We've been working very hard on plans, but sometimes the battle plan doesn't survive the 1st contact with the enemy. We've had to change a lot of things on the fly."

With the worst of the health care crisis here past, many in Ukraine's western provinces are trying to puzzle out what led to it. Doctors blame the news media and politicians for spreading fear and misinformation. The mayors of Ternopyl and Lviv, which reported their 1st deaths from atypical pneumonia on 12 and 19 Oct 2009, have complained that the federal epidemiological service refused to act without laboratory confirmation that the virus was present, delaying serious measures by nearly 2 weeks.

Others point to more remote causes, among them the desperate poverty of Ukraine's health care system 20 years after the Soviet Union collapsed. In Lviv, senior doctors earn a monthly salary of 1500 hryvnas, approximately USD 184, pay so low that many physicians leave their practices to work as home health aides in Western Europe. Though health care is officially free, patients typically pay a stream of cash bribes for services as large as X-rays and as small as
blood tests or linen changes.

Ukrainians rely heavily on home remedies, and that is what they did for the 3rd and 4th weeks of October 2009, resorting to garlic and lemons and waiting so long to check into hospitals that by the time they did, many were beyond treatment. "Medicine is underdeveloped in Ukraine, and people don't believe in it; it's a vicious circle," said Oleh Berezuk, a physician who heads the mayor's administration in Lviv. "In a mature country, if you get sick, you will not say: "Nobody can help me."

Now, the doctors at Lviv's main pulmonological hospital have the shaky good humor of people who have come through a crisis, though portions of their hospital are clammy and unlighted ("to scare the viruses," one doctor joked), and some of their breathing equipment dates from Soviet times.

Two weeks ago, though, doctors here thought they were looking at a medical mystery: the deaths of healthy young people -- not the drunks or addicts they usually see -- with lungs so inflamed that they resembled liver. Dr. Bonder recalls the numb realization that his ordinary protocol for treating pneumonia was having no impact at all. "You would come in to work, and the next time you looked at your watch it was midnight, " said Dr. Bonder, who heads the intensive
care unit. "You didn't even think what could happen next." Nurses and doctors were falling ill at an alarming rate, in part because of shortages of gloves and disinfectant. Irina Mykychak, the assistant director of Lviv's regional medical department, said around 3500 medical professionals fell ill, of whom 300 were hospitalized, and 4 died.

When they did suspect [pandemic] H1N1, physicians were stuck in a Catch-22 situation. Though the government had stockpiled Tamiflu in preparation for an outbreak they expected later in the year, the drug was available only at the region's single infectious disease station, and only with proof that a patient had H1N1. Obtaining proof was a 3-to-4-day process that required that samples be sent to Kiev, said Lyubomir Rak, the hospital's director.

Nadia Rudnitskaya, chief of pulmonology, was carefully putting the pieces together. On 27 Oct 2009, she examined the body of a 32-year-old man, the latest in a series of 4 deaths from 4 parts of western Ukraine that, as she put it, "shouldn't have happened." Dr. Rudnitskaya gathered her samples together and appealed urgently to Kiev. Right then, the logjam broke: The next day, the governor ordered a quarantine and released the emergency stockpile of Tamiflu
to clinics and hospitals. A day after that, Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko announced on television that the virus had "reached epidemic threshold," and all of Ukraine was talking about [pandemic] H1N1. "It was a riddle," Dr. Rudnitskaya said. "There was an answer."

For some, it came too late. Marta and Nazar Martin insisted that their mother, Galina, 43, check into a hospital on 23 Oct 2009, after her cough worsened into shallow, labored panting. A dentist, she had been treating herself with intravenous antibiotics and flu medications, as she had always done before. "No one knew there was an epidemic," said Marta, 18. "Nothing was said, not at work, not on television." The hospital offered no answers either. Doctors 1st
prescribed antibiotics for bronchitis, then punctured Ms. Martin's spinal column to test for meningitis and encephalitis, then gave her an M.R.I. to rule out a brain tumor. With every new prescription, her children scraped up the money and set off to find a pharmacy where it was available, Marta said. "A poor person would just die," she said. "They will not start a medication until you pay for it." On 29 Oct 2009, when information about H1N1 flooded the region, doctors and
nurses showed up wearing masks for the 1st time, Nazar said. He watched incredulously; his mother had already declined so much that she was "half a corpse," he said. After she died, the next day, samples from her body were sent to be tested for swine flu. Her children estimate they paid 35 000 hryvna, or about USD 4300, in cash payments to nurses and doctors during the week she spent in the hospital. The more they hear about swine flu, the angrier they get. "Why didn't they take measures before then?" said Nazar Martin, 19. "I'm interested in knowing what they were thinking. They took this seriously only when people began to die, when the death statistics began to rise. Where were they before then?"

[Byline: Ellen Barry]

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[2]
Date: Sat 14 Nov 2009
Source: Ukrainian News [edited]
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/52826

The Health Ministry confirmed 282 deaths of flu and acute respiratory viral infections in 23 regions, the city of Kyiv and Crimea as of 14 Nov 2009. Ukrainian News learned this from a statement by the Health Ministry. Of 282 lethal cases, 17 cases were registered over the past 24 hours.

According to the statement, since 29 Oct 2009, 87 fatal cases have been registered in Lviv region, 35 lethal cases have been registered in Ivano-Frankivsk region, 25 cases in Chernivtsi region, 21 cases in Ternopil region, 13 cases in Khmelnytskyi region, 12 cases in Kyiv region, 11 cases in Donetsk region, 9 cases in Rivne region, 9 cases in the city of Kyiv, 8 cases in Volyn region, 8 cases in Chernihiv region, and 7 cases in Zakarpattia region.

Also, 6 people have died of flu and acute respiratory viral infections in each of Cherkasy region and Kharkiv region, 5 people in each of Vinnytsia region and Sumy region, 3 people in each of Poltava region and Kherson region, 2 people in each of Zhytomyr region and Zaporizhia region, and one person in each of Crimea, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kirovohrad region, Mykolaiv region, and Odesa region.

Since 29 Oct 2009, a total of 1 347 538 people have contracted flu and acute respiratory viral infections in Ukraine, according to the statement. A total of 73 373 people have been hospitalized with flu and acute respiratory viral infections and 39 380 patients have been discharged. The epidemic threshold has been [exceeded everywhere] except in Crimea, Dnipropetrovsk region, Odesa region, Kharkiv region, Kherson region, and the city of Sevastopol.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Health Ministry confirmed 265 deaths of flu and acute respiratory viral infections in 21 regions, the city of Kyiv and Crimea as of 13 Nov 2009.

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[3]
Date: Sun 15 Nov 2009
Source: Global Research [edited]
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16088

Interview with Dr. Victor Bachinsky: [Professor Victor Bachinsky,M.D. is a coroner in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine. He also teaches at the Department of Anatomical Pathology and Forensic Medicine of Bukovynian State Medical Academy.]

Introduction: The Head of the Chernivtsi regional forensic bureau, Professor Victor Bachinsky M.D. makes a strong statement: all the victims of the virus in Bukovina (22 persons aged 20 to 40 years) died not from bilateral (double) pneumonia, as previously thought, but as a result of viral distress syndrome, i.e. the total destruction of the lungs. We caught up with Professor Bachinsky, to find out how he came to this conclusion, and how people can protect themselves from this disease.

VB: Based on autopsies, we have come to the conclusion: it's not pneumonia, but cardiopulmonary insufficiency and cardiogenic shock ... The virus enters directly into the lungs, there is bleeding ... Antibiotics should not be used.

Q: Why do we have such a high mortality rate in the country?

VB: Because people are going to pharmacies to get medicine instead of going to their doctors to be treated... No, it is not pneumonic plague. It's all nonsense ...antibiotics do not help... Those with strong immune systems will survive. People with weak immune systems will succumb to the illness ... Face masks provide 30 percent extra protection. Wearing glasses gives an additional 10 percent protection, that is 40 percent, because the virus penetrates the
mucous membranes.

Q: Professor, you said earlier that the virus, from which many people have died, is a mixture of types of parainfluenza and influenza A/H1N1. How do you cure this disease?

VB: The question of how to treat this virus is not up to me. I am a pathologist. I just found out what it is and made an exact diagnosis. It is important to provide the correct treatment based on diagnosis. There are strict protocols and standards of treatment in medicine. If a doctor treats a patient who dies, their relatives can make a complaint that they were not treated properly (misdiagnosed). The Ministry of Health has set the protocols and standards of treatment
for each diagnosis. If diagnosed correctly, the treatment should be correct.

In the Chernivtsi region, 18 people have died. We studied all the history and evidence from this disease, preclinical, clinical, resuscitation. When we perform an autopsy, organs and tissues have histological studies (cell analysis), and we concluded that it was not pneumonia and has no relation to pneumonia whatsoever. These results are the foundation to ensure that doctors who treat this disease all over Ukraine change their tactics and standards of care.

Q: Can this new virus be cured?

VB: It depends on the immune system. If a person's immune system is strong, they will overcome it. There are people who carry this strain of H1N1 and remain on their feet and don't even realize they are sick. Antibiotics definitely should not be taken. Antibiotics are the reason we have such a high mortality and infection rate in this country, because people go to the pharmacy, describe their symptoms to the pharmacist and ask for drugs. They buy antibiotics, take them, this lowers their immune system, and as a result they become sick. If prescriptions were required to buy these medications, as in other countries, this would not have happened. It is the ability to buy antibiotics over the counter without a prescription which has done so much harm to the state.

Q: During autopsies, what did the lungs look like? Were they really black, which gave rise to so much talk of pulmonary plague?

VB: No, they are not black ... This is not pneumonic plague. It's all nonsense. Pneumonic plague has a very different morphology. We have, for example, 60 000 people who became sick, and 23 have died. With pulmonary plague, we would now have a mortality rate of 59 000. This is a viral attack that destroys the lungs.

Q: It turns out that not only in Bukovina but also throughout Ukraine, people did not die from pneumonia but from this toxic strain?

VB: Yes, It's not pneumonia, this destruction of the lungs! This strain is very toxic, and if the immune system is weak, there is bleeding in the lungs. In the lungs, there is a tiny structure, acinus, which looks like a bunch of grapes. When you breathe, oxygen enters this tiny "bunch of grapes" (pulmonary alveoli). On the surface of the acinus are the capillaries, where red blood cells saturate with oxygen and which supply all tissues and organs in the body.

And once the virus enters the lungs, hemorrhaging begins immediately in the acinus. A continuous hemorrhage... It takes several hours. In the blood, fibrin is formed, and giolinovaya membrane, resembling a plastic bag. It envelops the acinus, and the person breathes in oxygen, but it is not transferred to the tissues. And people just gasp. There is a cardio-pulmonary insufficiency and cardiogenic shock. People die of cardiogenic shock. And there is no pneumonia.
Pneumonia is an inflammation, which is treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics cannot help at any stage. There should be absolutely different treatment.

Q: And how about Tamiflu -- does it help?

VB: This is not an antibiotic, it is an antiviral drug, which should be applied on the 2nd or 3rd day of the disease. But you cannot use Tamiflu as a preventative, because it is toxic.

Q: What are the best measures to resist the disease? Is it advisable to use a mask, garlic, vitamin C?

VB: The primary method of prevention is a face mask. This gives 30 percent extra protection. If you wear glasses [goggles], it is 40 percent, because the virus enters through the mucous membranes. It is necessary to improve the human immune system. Not only now, but in general, garlic, onions, wild rose, viburnum (guelder rose), raspberries, citrus fruit, honey, and other fruits and vegetables, whatever you want. Those with a strong immune system will survive.
Those with weaker immune systems will succumb to the disease. We have a lot of people in Ukraine who like shopping at open markets. If we can avoid open markets, the less people will be in contact with each other and more lives will be saved.

Q: You have contacted the Health Ministry and advised them to review the standards for treatment of patients. What did they say?

VB: We sent them all our data, the necessary protocols and standards of treatment, our diagnosis. But it is clear that decisions cannot be instantaneous.

Q: And why until now has nobody else known about this disease? What were the leading specialists in the Ministry of Health doing all this time?

VB: Perhaps this is due to the fact that there are scientists who are working on a purely theoretical basis. And there are scientists who have seen the autopsy results. I practice as head of the regional forensic bureau and as a professor. The fact that we have established this diagnosis, it is not just to my credit, and this is not my personal opinion. This is the opinion of specialists, morphologists and doctors in Bukovina. There are 5 professors in our group. I just head the group.

[Original interview in Russian by Anna Yashchenko published by Unian: http://www.unian.net/rus/news/news-346721.html]

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[4]
Date: Mon 16 Nov 2009
Source: The Moscow Times [edited]
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/whos-fears-over-ukraines-flu-ease/389501.html

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Fri 13 Nov 2009 that a "high to very high intensity of respiratory diseases" had been reported in Russia and Belarus, but it was now less concerned about a big outbreak in Ukraine. "The initial analysis of information from Ukraine indicates that the numbers of severe cases do not appear to be excessive when compared to the experience of other countries and do not represent any change in the transmission or virulence of the virus," the WHO said in a statement posted on its web site.

Ukraine, Belarus and some Russian cities have recently extended school breaks because of fears about the pandemic virus. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said school closures were among steps that could slow viral spread at the beginning of an outbreak, but had less usefulness once the flu had reached 5 percent of a given population. "After the virus becomes more widespread in a country, closing schools has less of an impact," he told a news briefing earlier in
the week. "If you make a decision to close schools and universities and other institutions, you have to be aware there are social and economic consequences of this decision."

The Russian areas worst hit by swine flu are in the Far East, Siberia and Northwest Russia, Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova said last week, without elaborating. At least 31 deaths have been linked to swine flu in Russia, also known as the [pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus], and more than 4560 people have been registered as infected.

The WHO said on Friday [13 Nov 2009] that the winter flu season, which began early in the northern hemisphere this year, may be peaking in parts of North America and western Europe, including parts of the southern and southeastern United States, Iceland and Ireland. The [pandemic] H1N1 virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. More than 6250 people have died, mostly in the Americas.

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[These are 4 contrasting accounts and interpretations of the current outbreak of influenza and acute respiratory disease in Ukraine, ranging from the darkness of the New York Times account to the blandness of the WHO message. The interview with Professor Bachinsky perhaps sheds the most light on the reasons for the confused situation in Ukraine and deserves the most attention. He disposes of the pneumonic plague rumour and identifies past and present> inappropriate resort to the use of antibiotics as a major factor in the poor public health situation in Ukraine. He suggests that the lethal effect of pandemic 2009 influenza virus infection is a direct consequence of replication of the virus in pulmonary tissue and not as a promoter of pneumonia, the cause of death thus being cardio-pulmonary failure. - Mod.CP

It sounds like Professor Bachinsky is describing hyaline membranes which are a part and parcel of the ARDS which accompanies acute diffuse overwhelming viral influenza pneumonia. Thus when he says this is not pneumonia, he apparently means it is not bacterial pneumonia. Furthermore it is misleading to say that those with a srong immune system recover versus those with a weak immune system, as many of the manifestations of the lethal diseases are thought to be due to cytokine storm. - Mod.DK

• Продивитись
• Перекласти

Прес-конференцiя вiдбулася в конференц-залi УНIАН в понедiлок 23.11.2009 о 12-30.
Питання, що обговорювалися:

• Чому заборонено прийом не щеплених дiтей у школу чи дитсадок, якщо прокуратура визнала вакцинацiю в Украiнi небезпечною для життя?
• Чому таких заборон немаe нiде в Eвропi?
• Хто iнiцiюe репресii проти людей, якi мають власну думку щодо вакцинацii?
• Як протидiяти брехнi про безпечнiсть i чудодiйнiсть вакцин?
• На чому базуeться тведження, що в Украiнi епiдемiя <<свинячого>> грипу?
• Чому не кажуть правду про вакцини проти цього грипу?
• та iнше.

• Валентина Янчук, координатор кампанii ,,Щеплення: свобода вибору'', Рух добровольцiв ,,Простiр свободи'',
• В'ячеслав Костилeв, президент Лiги захисту громадянських прав,
• Наталя Белiцер, доктор бiологii, експерт Iнституту демократii iм.П.Орлика,
• Наталя Коломieць, лiкар-педiатр,
• Сергiй Дiбров, публiцист.